Sporting boats

ABSTRACT

A sporting boat comprises a floatable body having platform on which a player can stand, a power unit in the stern, a jet pump driven by the power unit for ejecting pressurized water to the rear of the boat, a pair of foldable hydrofoils pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the boat, spring means for urging the hydrofoils to the extended positions thus stabilizing the low speed running, flaps secured to the hydrofoils near the outer ends for creating a braking force, a flexible supporting tube secured on the bow, a grip handle mounted on the upper end of the flexible supporting tube, and cable means extending through the supporting tube and connected to the grip handle for controlling the speed of the power unit, the direction of the water jet ejected from the ejector pump and the folding of the hydrofoils.

United States Patent n 1 lshimoto 1 SPORTING BOATS Kenichi lshimoto, 41 l8, 4-chome Karnimeguro, Megro-ku, Tokyo, Japan 22 Filed: Apr. 24, 1972 21 1 Appl. No; 246,723

[76] Inventor:

[52] US. Cl. 114/665 11, 115/70 [51] Int. Cl 1363b 1/31) {58] Field of Search 1. 114/665 1-1. 66.5 R, 0.5 R,

114/56, 151, ll, 12 R. 70

1451 Apr. 9, 1974 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchier Assistant ExaminerBarry L. Kelmachter Attorney, Agent, or Firm- Charles E. Pfund, Chittick, Thompson & Pfund [57] ABSTRACT A sporting boat comprises a floatable body having platform on which a player can stand, a power unit in the stern, a jet pump driven by the power unit for ejecting pressurized water to the rear of the boat, a pair of foldable hydrofoils pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the boat, spring means for urging the hydrofoils to the extended positions thus stabilizing the low speed running, flaps secured to the hydrofoils near the outer ends for creating a braking force, a flexible supporting tube secured on the how, a grip handle mounted on the upper end of the flexible supporting tube, and cable means extending through the supporting tube and connected to the grip handle for controlling the speed of the power unit, the direction of the water jet ejected from the ejector pump and the folding of the hydrofoils.

7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEBAPR 91914 sum 3 2 3,802,369

sron'rmc soars BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a sporting boat or a water ski and more particularly to a sporting boat propelled by a power unit.

Heretobefore, many types of self propelling sporting boats have been proposed in which the players can enjoy the boats while standing thereon. However, in all of the prior boats, the size of the boat is unnecessarily large so that it is not only difficult to manipulate but also the boat is expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved sport boat or water ski which is compact in construction, small in size, inexpensive and can operate safely.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel sporting boat having a pair of foldable hydrofoils so that when the hydofoils are extended they stabilize the boat during its low speed operation but when the hydrofoils are contracted the boat can operate at high speeds.

Briefly stated, in accordance with this invention there is provided a sporting boat comprising a floatable body having a platform on which a player can stand, a power unit contained in the stern of the body, a jet pump driven by the power unit for ejecting pressurized water to the rear of the boat, a pair of foldable hydrofoils pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of the boat, spring means for urging the hydrofoils to the extended positions thus stabilizing the low speed running of the boat, flaps secured to the hydrofoils near their outer ends for creating a braking force when the hydrofoils are urged to their extended positions, a flexible supporting tube secured on the bow of the boat, a grip handle mounted on the upper end of the flexible supporting tube, and cable means extending through the supporting tube and connected to the grip handle for controlling the speed of the power unit, the direction of the water jet ejected from the ejector pump and the folding of the hydrofoils.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which;

H0. 1 is a perspective view of a sporting boat constructed according to the teaching of the invention and showing the manner of use thereof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective side view of the boat with portions cut way to clearly show the internal construction;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged perspective view of the grip handle;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the engine compartment;

FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the boat showing the hydrofoils in the extended position and FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the hydrofoils in the contracted postion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The boat I shown in the accompanying drawings comprises a body in the form ofa hollow shell made of a synthetic resinous material, especially glass fiber reinforced plastic or Teflon and has a length of about 2.5 m and a width of about 30 cm, for instance. The interior of the boat 1 is divided into four compartments by means of three spaced apart barriers 2, 3, and 4. More particularly, a float compartment 5 which occupies a substantial length of the boat 1 is filled with a floatable filler such as polyurethane fibers 6. A liquid tight compartment 7 located to the rear of the float compartment 5 and defined by the barriers 3 and 4 is used as the fuel tank for a power unit to be described later. When an electric motor is used as the power unit, the compartment 7 is used to accommodate a storage battery. A threaded plug 8 is threaded into a threaded opening through the upper wall of the fuel compartment 7 for filling liquid fuel into compartment 7.

At the stern of the boat 1 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, is formed an engine compartment 10 which is covered by a removable water tight cover 9 for accommodating a power unit 7 which may be a compact rotary internal combustion engine 11 or an electric motor (not shown). The output shaft 12 of the rotary internal comhustion engine II is coupled to an ejector pump I3. Al though not shown in the drawing, the intake port of the ejector pump 13 opens through the bottom of the boat whereas its output port terminates in a thrust nozzle 14 projecting rearwardly of the stern. This thrust nozzle 14 may be a well known type capable of swinging in the horizontal plane. A wavy conduit 15 extending through the engine compartment 10 acts as an air intake pipe for the rotary internal combustion engine and is provided with cage 16 at the intake port located on the outside of the stems, the cage 16 containing a ball float 17 for preventing entrance of outside water, as best shown in FIG. 4. The rotary internal combustion engine 11 may be started by a starter having a cord wrapped around the flywheel 1 In of the engine, the outer end of the cord being connected to a handle 18 located on the outside of the boat 1.

A cable conduit 19 is supported by barriers and longitudinally extends through the boat, one end of the cable conduit 19 being connected to a flexible tube 20 with its lower end secured to the bow of the boat, as shown in FIG. 2.

0n the upper end of the flexible tube 20 is secured a grip handle, the detail thereof will be described later with reference to FlG. 3.

An elongated groove 21 is formed in each side of the boat and an eject pin 22 operated by a cable extending through the cable conduit 19 is provided at an intermediate point along the length of each groove 21. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a pair of elongated hydrofoils 23 and 24 of a small angle of attack are pivot ally connected to the fore ends of the elongated grooves 2! by means of pivot pins 25 and 26, respectively. These hydrofoiis are normally biased outwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 by means of spring 43 of suitable design to apply predetermining force urging the hydrofoils to extended position. The hydrofoils 23 and 24 are provided with flaps 27 and 28 secured thereto near the outer ends. Permanent magnets 29 and 30 are embedded in the flaps 27 and 28, respectively at positions corresponding to the eject pins 22. When the hydrofoils 23 and 24 are folded in the contracted positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 6 the hydrofoils are attracted by the eject pins 22 energized by electromagnetic coils, not shown. When the electromagnetic coils are deenergized, the hydrofoils 23 and 24 can be moved to the extended position as shown in FIG. by the ejecting action of eject pins 22 and urging springs 43.

As shown in FIG. 3, the grip handle 31 comprises a pair of grips 32 and 33 rotatable about their supporting shaft, and a pair of operating levers 36 and 37 pivotally mounted by pins 34 and 35 at their bases. The arrangement is such that when the player rotates the righthand grip 32, the throttle valve of the rotary internal com bustion engine 11 is varied thus varying the speed of the boat, whereas when the lefthand grip 33 is rotated, the eject pins 22 are controlled to vary the positions of the hydrofoils 23 and 24. Operating levers 36 and 37 are connected by tension cable actuators 19b and 19c guided through handle and conduit 19 to vary the inclination angle of the thrust nozzle 14. For example, when the operating lever 36 is manually operated in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 3 the thrust nozzle 14 is deflected to the righthand side of the boat thus turning the same to the right and similarly lever 37 can be operated to deflect nozzle 14 to the left.

Furthermore, the upper surface of the boat 1 is formed with a shallow depression 38 for mounting foot stands 40 and 41 through cushion means such as a sheet of sponge or a fluid cushion. The compartment 42 formed at the bow of the ship 1 is used as a balast tank. By varying the quantity of the water filled in compartment 42 it is possible to adjust the position of the center of gravity of the boat.

When the boat is not used, the hydrofoils 23 and 24 are biased to the extended positions by springs 43. To use the boat, the engine 11 is started by the operation of handle 18. Then the ejector pump 13 is rotated to suck water from the bottom of the hull and eject the water through thrust nozzle 14. By the reaction of the ejected water the boat is propelled. As the speed of the boat is increased, the resistance manifested by flaps 27 and 28 is increased thus folding the hydrofoils into the grooves 21 against the bias of the springs 43. When the hydrofoils 23 and 24 are retained in the grooves 21 by the manipulation of grip 33, the boat can plane with small running resistance.

To turn the boat, the operating lever 36 or 37 is manually operated to deflect the thrust nozzle 14 in the desired direction thus applying a turning moment to the boat.

To apply a braking force to the boat, grip 33 is operated to release hydrofoils 23 and 24. Then the flaps 27 and 28 create the braking force.

As above described, the player can assume a stable posture by grasping the operating grips mountecd on a flexible supporting tube. Moreover, as the attitude of the boat 1 is stabilized by the hydrofoils during low speed running it is possible to accelerate smoothly. Since the hydrofoils are foldable, the stability of the boat is high when it is running at low speeds. But when the boat is accelerated, the hydrofoils are automatically folded in the grooves so that it is possible to enjoy thrilling high speed running.

Although the invention has been shown and described in terms of a specific embodiment thereof, it

should be understood that the invention is by no means limited to the illustrated embodiment and that many changes and modifications in addition to those sug gested herein will be obvious to one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed, is

1. A sporting boat comprising a floatable body having a platform on which a player can stand, a power unit contained in the stern of said body, a jet pump driven by said power unit for ejecting pressurized water to the rear of said boat, a pair of foldable hydrofoils pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of said boat, spring means for urging with predetermined force said hydrofoils to the extended positions thus stabilizing the low speed running of said boat and adapted for automatically folding said hydrofoils along the sides of said body due to water pressure thereon at the running speed of said boat, flaps secured to said hyrofoils near their outer ends for creating a braking force when said hydrofoils are urged to their extended positions, a flexible supporting tube secured on the bow of said boat, a grip handle mounted on the upper end of said flexible supporting tube, and cable means extending through said tube and connected to said grip handle for controlling the speed of said power unit, the direction of the water jet ejected from said ejector pump and the folding of said hydrofoils.

2. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein said power unit is an internal combustion engine.

3. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein the output of said ejector pump is connected to a thrust nozzle which is located on the outside of the stern of said boat and deflected towards right or left by said grip handle through said cable means.

4. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of longitudinal grooves are formed on the opposite sides of said boat for receiving said hydrofoils, the inner ends of said hydrofoils being pivotally mounted on the fore ends of said grooves, means for retaining said hydrofoils folded in said grooves, and means including ejecting pins operated by said grip handle through said cable means located at intermediate points along the lengths of said grooves for releasing said hydrofoils from the retaining means.

5. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of footstands are mounted on the platform of said boat near said flexible supporting tube.

6. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein the interior of said body is partitioned into a balancing compartment, a float compartment filled with floatable material, a fuel compartment, and a power unit compartment for accommodating the power unit, in the order starting from the bow of said boat.

7. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein said grip handle comprises a pair of grips rotatable about a supporting shaft, and a pair of manually operated levers with their bases pivotally connected to said supporting shaft, said levers extending close and substantially in parallel with said grips so that each pair of said lever and grip can be operated by a single hand.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 7 3,802,369 DATED April 9, 1974 N\!N}OR{S) Kenichi Ishimoto it is certified that error appears in the abeve-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown beiow:

In the legend insert {30] FOREIGN APPLICATION PRIORITY DATA April 22, 1971 Japan 26561/71 Signed and sealed this 27th day of May 1975.

(SEAL) Attest:

C. MARSHALL DANN RUTH C. MASON Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Attesting Officer 

1. A sporting boat comprising a floatable body having a platform on which a player can stand, a power unit contained in the stern of said body, a jet pump driven by said power unit for ejecting pressurized water to the rear of said boat, a pair of foldable hydrofoils pivotally mounted on the opposite sides of said boat, spring means for urging with predetermined force said hydrofoils to the extended positions thus stabilizing the low speed running of said boat and adapted for automatically folding said hydrofoils along thE sides of said body due to water pressure thereon at the running speed of said boat, flaps secured to said hydrofoils near their outer ends for creating a braking force when said hydrofoils are urged to their extended positions, a flexible supporting tube secured on the bow of said boat, a grip handle mounted on the upper end of said flexible supporting tube, and cable means extending through said tube and connected to said grip handle for controlling the speed of said power unit, the direction of the water jet ejected from said ejector pump and the folding of said hydrofoils.
 2. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein said power unit is an internal combustion engine.
 3. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein the output of said ejector pump is connected to a thrust nozzle which is located on the outside of the stern of said boat and deflected towards right or left by said grip handle through said cable means.
 4. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of longitudinal grooves are formed on the opposite sides of said boat for receiving said hydrofoils, the inner ends of said hydrofoils being pivotally mounted on the fore ends of said grooves, means for retaining said hydrofoils folded in said grooves, and means including ejecting pins operated by said grip handle through said cable means located at intermediate points along the lengths of said grooves for releasing said hydrofoils from the retaining means.
 5. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein a pair of footstands are mounted on the platform of said boat near said flexible supporting tube.
 6. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein the interior of said body is partitioned into a balancing compartment, a float compartment filled with floatable material, a fuel compartment, and a power unit compartment for accommodating the power unit, in the order starting from the bow of said boat.
 7. The sporting boat as claimed in claim 1 wherein said grip handle comprises a pair of grips rotatable about a supporting shaft, and a pair of manually operated levers with their bases pivotally connected to said supporting shaft, said levers extending close and substantially in parallel with said grips so that each pair of said lever and grip can be operated by a single hand. 